2024 Annual Report (1) - Flipbook - Page 12
HARMONY PUBLIC SCHOOLS OPENS MIDLAND CAMPUS
Classes start in portable buildings as construction of permanent campus begins
In fall 2024, Harmony Science Academy welcomed
students to its campus in northeast Midland.
Currently operating in modular buildings, the
tuition-free open-enrollment charter school offers
preschool through fifth grade. Harmony broke
ground on its permanent buildings in April and is
on track to open its elementary school in fall 2025
and its middle and high school in fall 2027.
Harmony schools earn high ratings from the Texas
Education Agency (TEA).
Construction of the Midland campus was made
possible by matching $7 million grants from
Scharbauer Foundation and PSP, with an
additional $1.7 million gift from Abell-Hanger
Foundation, awarded in 2023. Rising costs of
materials and construction led to a significant
increase in the project budget. Harmony will issue
a $45 million bond and seek a additional private
funding to complete the project. Harmony projects
future enrollment to reach 1,500 with 650
elementary school students and 850 students at its
middle and high school campus.
Harmony Science Academy received more than
850 applications to fill its current 264 seats, far
surpassing its goal of enrolling 200 young
Midlanders. More than half of the student
population comes from economically
disadvantaged households, and more than a
quarter of current students are emergent bilingual.
The school successfully filled all administrative and
teaching positions in preparation for its first
academic year.
More than a third of local Harmony students
participated in its after-school programs that
included activities such as volleyball, student
council, robotics, 3D printing, STEM club, book club,
gardening, and arts and crafts.
The Midland campus brings the total number of
Harmony Public Schools in Texas to 63. The charter
school currently has one campus operating in
Odessa, with a second set to open in 2025. With its
focus on STEM-centered education and projectbased learning opportunities, the majority of
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